Cox confident of putting arch rivals to the sword

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Only a rout of world champions New Zealand in tonight's second
Test will satisfy stand-in Australian captain Catherine Cox.

Australia can wrap up the three-Test series with a win at
Perth's Challenge Stadium after their 54-49 victory in game one in
Sydney on Saturday.

That was a vital triumph for the Australians, who had lost four
consecutive games against their biggest rivals dating back to last
year's world championship final.

Cox, who will fill in for injured captain Liz Ellis tonight,
believes Australia can dominate New Zealand if they play to their
potential in a game that has been sold out for two weeks. The home
side led by 12 points at one stage on Saturday but fell away in the
fourth quarter to win by only five goals.

"So we're glad we got the win, but we're certainly not happy
with [the performance]," Cox said. "There were a lot of mistakes in
the last quarter. I think we'll be going back to the drawing board
and we'll only be happy when we put out a good performance, which I
think will be [winning by] a lot more than five goals."

Australia must make adjustments without Ellis, who will miss her
first game through injury in 13 years. The 31-year-old did an
exceptional job in game one on Irene van Dyk, New Zealand's chief
scoring threat, until injuring her ankle in the third quarter.

Australian coach Norma Plummer admitted yesterday the team
struggled when Ellis left game one, adding she was a chance to play
in game three in Melbourne on Saturday. "I think it unnerved them
for a few minutes [when Ellis went off]," Plummer said.

Following the Silver Ferns' impressive win in last year's world
championships, they recorded a 3-0 series whitewash of Australia in
New Zealand in July. The defeat on Saturday was their first since
the 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medal match.

Kiwi captain Lesley Nicol said they had targeted the areas they
needed to improve. "For us I think it's a change of attitude, the
fact that we need more hunger and desire out there," she said.